Karen Kendra Ep. 117 - How are you planning to re-fire after your retirement? Perhaps, find a new second career that you're passionate about and will help you continue building your legacy and impacting others? Karen Kendra loves writing and says "Write Your Memoirs!" Karen Kendra is a former nurse who decided to join a writing class to rediscover herself retirement. She wanted to write about her experiences in life which landed her in memoir writing. She now facilitates classes and writing groups to teach people how to write their memoirs/ autobiographies.

Top Takeaways:

• • How to rediscover yourself and refire after retiring with something you're passionate about
  • The importance of writing our life stories in helping others understand our country and different cultures
  • The many definitions of racism that presents a less black and white surface on the topic
  • The qualities you need to adopt to become an impactful writer

Listen in to learn the importance of writing stories that tell your and others' life experiences to younger generations.

"We need to record our stories because when we are gone those stories are lost. It is hard to get started because a lot of people think that starting a chronological life story is daunting. Our lives are not A to B to Z. They are a series of small stories that make up the tapestry of our lives." -Karen J. Kendra

Karen Kendra's parents were both Marines and both served in WWII. Karen attended a different school each year until she was in 4^th grade when they settled in the newly established suburb called Levittown (see Karen's blog on Levittown here.)

She was a nurse and over 37 years worked in numerous specialties: family practice offices, general operating room, dialysis, neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, and urology. Her first husband died of cancer after 25 years of marriage.  She went on to remarry five years later. While in the cardiac OR, she designed an orientation program for novice RNs and won a Clinical Excellence Award for that work in 2000 and was the first OR nurse to win the award in that hospital.

After she left surgery, she became a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant and worked with attorneys on personal injury and malpractice cases and continued her clinical career.

She enrolled in Encore and took writing classes. She then joined the Peer Learning Partnership where she facilitates a writing class called, "Where Your Pen Will Take You." She formed a writers group for writing your memoirs and now facilitates classes on that topic.